Jewelry Artists

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Samantha Kocsis

Time Flies 2
 Meet the Designer-Artist


Where do you live?
I live in the Pacific Northwest in Covington, Washington.

What inspires you as a designer-artist?
The inspiration of her shop's name comes from her love of animals, particularly dolphins. I love nature and animals and find that they show up a lot in my artwork and designs. I am also a big Halloween fan and can find myself in the mood to do Halloween-inspired art all year around. I take a lot of inspiration from things that are happening around me and can sometimes be inspired by books or a TV program that I have seen. I also love the Steampunk genre and love adding vintage watch parts, copper coils and other bit and pieces to my clay jewelry.

What medium do you work with mostly?
I love just about every medium but am especially fond of painting, drawing and sculpting. Most of my jewelry I hand sculpt and mold from a sturdy, lightweight clay called Creative Paperclay®. After it dries, I then paint each piece with acrylic paints (often using specialized iridescent, duo chrome, and glow in the dark paints) then seal it with at least three coats of an indoor/outdoor sealer to protect the finish. I then either, wire wrap the pendant or add a bail and beads to finish it. Each pendant takes from start to finish, a week or longer to create.

Why did you become enchanted with this style of jewelry-making?
I have always done art, but in 2005, I asked my boyfriend for a block of clay as I missed working with it (my mom used to own a ceramic business) and he bought me my first block of clay. I started playing with it and posting the results on my blog and people wanted to buy them. My entire business grew from that moment on.

Where and How do you sell your jewelry?
You will find me online at my Etsy store http://dolphindaze.etsy.com. I also do several shows a year in the Pacific Northwest and post information on upcoming shows on my Facebook site www.facebook.com/dolphindaze

What is the name of the piece you submitted with your success story?
Time Flies 2

What inspired this design?
I adore working in the Steampunk style and working with old parts of watches, copper wire and more. Bringing to life something new out of the discarded pieces of something that has already served its purpose really excites me. I have also had a long fascination with time machines and the idea that with a little luck and ingenuity, we could create something to allow us to move back and forth through time and this pendant is my attempt at a time machine. I also added glow in the dark paints in green, blue and purple so that when I wear this pendant in the dark it will have a whole new look.

How did it come together?
I knew I had wanted to do a Steampunk piece and had my watch parts surrounding me and just started playing with different parts and colors and this is what resulted. Sometimes the art seems to just flow and you will end up with an amazing piece.